Launching a Retail Phenomenon
Brand identity design, marketing collateral and environmental design for retail development are the key to its early success.
Metropolis Lifestyle Shopping Center
Like nearly all the real estate development projects that Gerardot & Co. has the pleasure to work on, Metropolis began as a tract of raw ground and the dream of a developer to make it a valuable asset for a community. Located less than 20 miles from downtown on Indianapolis’ west side, the once bedroom community of Plainfield was perfectly situated at the crossroads of growth and bursting with potential. Plainfield just needed someone to make an investment in its future.
Challenge:
Question: How do you attract retailers like Target, JCPenney and Banana Republic to a small town in a mostly rural community with an unproven track record? And if you somehow manage to get the retailers to come, how do you assure their success by delivering a constant flow of customers eager to shop, watch movies and take the family out to dinner?
Answer: You build a city of the future.
The trade area maps showed that Plainfield, Indy’s west side, all of Hendricks County and beyond were underserved and ripe for a new retail development. A mostly blue collar workforce, thousands of acres of farmland and generations of farmers that tended its crops and a growing Hispanic community were hungry for an economic shot in the arm. Building a new mall was just the medicine Plainfield needed.
Plainfield’s town council and the Hendricks County Economic Development Corporation were equally hungry for a win for the community and threw their support and guidance behind the project to help make it a reality and assure they had a stake in its future.
Solution:
Naming a new retail shopping center that was nothing less than economic engine for the future of an entire community was a challenge. But after multiple creative brainstorming sessions with the project’s developer, one bold idea stood out from the rest.
Metropolis - (the capital of commerce and hub of a community) would be the name of this million square foot retail development. It was a big name to live up to, but the developers, the Town of Planfield and its citizens were up for the challenge and eager to embrace this bold new direction.
Working with the developer and architects, Gerardot & Co. helped forge the look and feel of Metropolis. The architects and planners imagined a futuristic-inspired style of dramatic lines, sleek metallic sheathing and hundreds of thousands of LED lights. Combined with earthy materials of limestone from local Indiana quarries, Metropolis’ future was set in stone.
Because the success of the development hinged on its ability to attract people from such a wide trade area, Metropolis was billed not as a shopping center, but as center for entertainment, food and shopping. Consequently Gerardot & Co. defined the brand positioning for Metropolis as “a Shopping, Dining and Entertainment Phenomenon.”
Taking cues from the architects, Gerardot & Co. developed a brand identity system that used a fun mix metallic and brightly hued inks. We designed a series of fun, fashionable and entertaining illustrations for signage throughout the property and for print advertising, billboards and marketing collateral.
The brand landmark for the entire property was the design grand entrance signage. Floating over a colorfully lit waterfall stands a 6-foot metal sculpture of the Metropolis logotype.
The Grand opening of Metropolis was launched with an aggressive media blitz, including an impressive press kit designed to make a colorful splash.
Results:
Today, just as the trade area maps predicted, people are drawn to Metropolis from all over the Indianapolis metropolitan area and as far as Terre Haute and eastern Illinois, some 90 miles away. Plainfield and Metropolis play host to dozens of local festivals and open-air concerts all year long. An 18-screen movie theater and an open plaza, complete with a nightly light show, are the center of the shopping and entertainment venue.
An eclectic mix of 51 national and local retailers provide a venue for visitors to come to escape, shop and enjoy a quality of living that wasn’t possible before 2006.
Would just any retail development have sparked the kind of economic renaissance that Metropolis started? Perhaps, but it’s the unique brand character and design of Metropolis that makes it more than just another shopping center. Metropolis has become a destination for thousands of families, visitors, and shoppers each year. Along with its new neighbor to the east, the Indianapolis airport, Metropolis has become an economic beacon and magnet for future growth for Plainfield and Hendricks County, Indiana.
